MALVERN, Pa., July 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty Property Trust announced today that the joint venture agreement between it and Comcast Corporation relating to the Comcast Innovation & Technology Center, together with the related agreements for the development of the project, have been completed and development is commencing. The 59-story tower, to be located on the 1800 block of Arch Street in Philadelphia, will include 1.334 million square feet of rentable office space and a 222-room Four Seasons Hotel. Comcast has signed a 20-year lease for 982,275 square feet, or approximately 74 percent of the office space.

The joint venture is 80 percent owned by Comcast and 20 percent by Liberty Property Trust. Liberty is the manager of the joint venture. Project costs, exclusive of tenant-funded interior improvements, are anticipated to be approximately $933 million, of which $40 million represents public assistance in the form of grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia for funding of infrastructure improvements and public spaces. Liberty's investment in the project is expected to be approximately $185 million.

Completion is anticipated to be in the first quarter of 2018. L.F. Driscoll is acting as general contractor.

About Liberty Property Trust

Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and United Kingdom, through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior office and industrial properties. Liberty's 101 million square foot portfolio includes 700 properties which provide office, distribution and light manufacturing facilities to 1,800 tenants.

Forward Looking Statements

The statements in this release include statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to, among others, the consummation of the sales described herein. These forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," "should," "seeks," "intends," "proposed," "planned," "outlook" and "goal" or similar expressions. Such statements include states regarding the expectations for completion of the project and the amount of cost to be incurred for development of the project. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, the company can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. As forward-looking statements, these statements involve important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of the company. The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, uncertainties affecting real estate business generally (such as entry into new leases, renewals of leases and dependence on tenants' business operations), risks relating to the integration of the operations of entities that we have acquired or may acquire, risks relating to financing arrangements and sales of securities, possible environmental liabilities, risks relating to leverage and debt service (including availability of financing terms acceptable to the company and sensitivity of the company's operations and financing arrangements to fluctuations in interest rates), dependence on the primary markets in which the company's properties are located, the existence of complex regulations relating to status as a REIT and the adverse consequences of the failure to qualify as a REIT, risks relating to litigation, and the potential adverse impact of market interest rates on the market price for the company's securities.